Vigor AP-910C Ceiling Wireless Access Point

Overview

Vigor AP-910C Access Point for Ceilings or Walls

The DrayTek VigorAP 910C is an 802.11ac ceiling-mounted PoE wireless access point, which can be operated in standalone or centrally managed/monitored mode, with a compatible DrayTek Vigor router, or with the VigorACS central management platform.

The VigorAP 910C is a high specification professional access point providing reliable and flexible coverage to all manner of applications. A vast array of security and management features helps the AP-910C improve and protect flexibility and integrity of your wireless LAN.

Ideal for adding wireless connectivity to an existing LAN, or for expanding the range of an existing wireless LAN by using the WDS repeater features.

The ceiling format of the unit means that it can provide unobstructed coverage to the area around it and aesthetically blends into any home or office environment thanks to its shape, size and hidden cable entry. The AP-910C can also be wall mounted.

For ceiling mounting, a circular mounting plate (included with the unit) is fitted and then the VigorAP 910C is secured into place by twisting the VigorAP into the mounting plate.

For suspended ceilings, additional mounts are included to attach to ceiling T-Bars (see later), clipping securely into place.

Mounting & Coverage

The AP-910C is designed to be installed on ceilings in order to serve the area below it. The cables (Ethernet or Power) can reach the AP-910C from the rear or the side. For solid ceiling fixing a backplate is supplied. The backplate fixes to the ceiling and the AP-910C then clips in. Alternatively, T-Bar mounts enable quick and easy attachments to suspended ceilings (see photo below). The AP-910C can also be wall-mounted - keyhole slots on the back allowing any orientation.

AP-910C fitted to the T-bars of a suspended ceiling (clips are included with the product)

AP-910C installed on a ceiling (using mount plate, left) and hung on a wall (right)

Central Management with DrayTek VigorACS

The DrayTek VigorAP 910C can be managed by the DrayTek VigorACS central management system - a cloud platform which can manage most DrayTek products - routers, wireless access points and Ethernet switches, giving you complete visibility and control of your DrayTek product estate, even without a DrayTek Vigor router on site.

The DrayTek VigorACS management system can be used to configure and provision DrayTek VigorAP access points, similarly to performing these actions through the VigorAP's web interface, with a familiar menu layout in the Configuration section of VigorACS.

Profiles for groups of access points can be provisioned in VigorACS by selecting a VigorACS network, then accessing Configuration > AP Profile to configure profiles and apply them selectively.

DrayTek's VigorACS management monitors the VigorAP 910C, with a Dashboard view giving a central overview of the most important information from the VigorAP's current status.

Central Management with a DrayTek Router

The VigorAP 910C can operate in standalone autonomous mode, but can also form part of a centrally managed wireless installation by adding a compatible DrayTek wireless controller such as the Vigor 2862 router. This enables you to centrally control, manage and administer multiple AP devices installed around your building/campus. Management also enables efficient usage of your wireless access point through load-balancing, whereby wireless clients are distributed across several access points to reduce congestion.

The DrayTek router operating as the wireless controller can provision DrayTek VigorAP access points using the Central AP Management profiles configured on the router, with an option to Auto Provision - auto configuring newly installed VigorAP access points with the Auto Provisioning profile, upon initial connection to the DrayTek Vigor router's network.

Features

Power-over-Ethernet

The AP-910C supports PoE (802.3af Power over Ethernet) as standard (built-in) so if the AP-910C is connected to a PoE-enabled Ethernet switch or PoE injector, you don't need any local power to the unit (power supply) - the AP-910C will take its power from the Ethernet cable.

It supports Gigabit PoE connectivity with a similarly capable network switch or PoE injector, such as the VigorSwitch P1280 or VigorSwitch P1092 models (or any other 802.3af device).

PoE is ideal for situations where you do not have mains power available in the exact location where you want to install the AP-910C or just for general aesthetic neatness, perhaps where the AP-910C is installed somewhere prominent.

The AP-910C is also supplied with an AC/DC mains PSU for installations where you are not using PoE.

Wireless Security & VLANs

The AP-910C features multiple levels of wireless security. Encryption using WEP, WPA, WPA2 (802.11i) is available you can also use the access control list (ACL) to specify the hardware addresses of clients which are permitted to connect (by MAC hardware address). Any unauthorised hardware is refused access.

For additional user authentication, you can activate 802.1x RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service) which allows you to centrally manage and store user names and passwords either within the AP-910C setup itself (thus not needing any external server) on an external radius server which can permit time limited, temporary or continuous access to your clients as required.

The Vigor AP-910C supports the 802.1q VLAN protocol so that if it is connected to an 802.1q enabled LAN, it can split tagged data (whether its different subnets or intended for different users) and broadcast each on its own SSID. This means, for example, that your guest WiFi access is provided on a separate isolated SSID with no access to your company data.

Locate VigorAP 910C's easily with the Beeper notification

Locating all of your access points optimally helps ensure you have everywhere covered and aids in maintenance.

Once the units are installed, to help you with identifying access points when they are installed on the ceiling, use the VigorAP's web interface or VigorACS to temporarily trigger the beeper inside each unit to locate it.

Simultaneous Dual-Band Operation & Extended 5Ghz Bands

The Vigor AP-910C supports simultaneous operation of the common 2.4Ghz band and the new 5Ghz band. The 5Ghz band is far less congested so if your PCs or other devices support the 5Ghz band, you can use that.

The Vigor AP-910C operates both bands at the same time, so your devices can use either band and each has its own bandwidth so overall wireless capacity is also increased. The 5Ghz supports the full range of extended domestic 5Ghz channels, due to its support for DFS/TPC. You can select all 5Ghz channels up to channel 140, as opposed to just the 4 'Band A-Lower' channels (which provides only two non-overlapping channels @ 80Mhz channel width).

Access Control / User Authentication

For additional security, wireless access can be restricted to authorised users only by use of a unique username and password for each user. This is in addition the encryption provided by WEP/WPA etc. When the user first opens their wireless connection, the AP-910C will request their username/password and not permit access to the LAN or Internet without it.

The AP-910C can use an external radius server to hold user credentials but also has its own built-in radius server to store up to 96 users. The AP-910C's built-in Radius server can also act as a server to additional devices (such as another AP-910C, meaning that you don't need to set up the same users up on several units).

WDS & Repeater Modes

The DrayTek AP-910C can act as a standalone wireless access point, ideal for adding wireless connectivity to an existing LAN but also operates in several other wireless modes to provide enlarged wireless coverage or wireless bridges to other parts of your LAN. Many different configurations are possible:

Bridge Mode

This mode joins two parts of the same logical network which cannot be otherwise connected by cables, for example between two adjacent buildings. You can then connect a PC directly to it using RJ45 Ethernet.

Universal Repeater Mode

As a repeater, the AP-910C can extend the wireless coverage of a network. You can add multiple units to extend the range in multiple directions or multiple hops (for best performance, more than two is not recommended due to latency and channel congestion which can result).

In the diagram below, there are two AP-910C's to extend the range in different directions:

WMM - WiFi Multimedia

The AP-910C implements intelligent wireless traffic prioritization for the most efficient management of wireless traffic by using the Wi-Fi Multimedia standard (WMM). WMM defines Quality of Service (QoS) in Wi-Fi networks. It is a precursor to the upcoming IEEE 802.11e WLAN QoS standard, intended to improve timing critical applications such as audio, video and voice applications over WiFi. WMM adds prioritized capabilities to Wi-Fi networks and optimizes their performance when multiple concurrent applications, each with different latency and throughput requirements, compete for network resources.

Screenshots

VigorAP-910C - User Interface Screenshots

(These shots are taken from the AP-900 but the AP-910C is based on the same firmware)

Wireless Configuration

List of Connection Stations (clients) and diagnostics

Scanning & Discovery of other nearby Access Points

Wireless Scheduling

Access & Event Schedules - You can schedule wireless on/off, reboots orturn off all of the unit's LED's (lights) at different times (e.g. night).

Limiting Bandwidth for connected clients

Built-in or external Radius Server for Client Authentication

Vigor2860 (Wireless management) Screenshots

The screenshots below show the web interface the Vigor2860 (or other DrayTek controller device) when centrally managing an estate of VigorAPs

Vigor 2860 Rogue Access Point Detection

Vigor 2860 Firmware Upgrade Status of multiple AP-900

Vigor 2860 managed upgrade of Vigor AP-900 units

Vigor 2860 AP-900 Management - Wireless Load Balance Policy

Note : The above screenshots are provided as a guide only. Exact operation and screen appearance will vary depending on firmware version and will change as features and functionality evolve. In some cases, the screenshots above may have been modified, resized, cropped or merged in order to best illustrate the features available.